The FTC sues TurboTax to stop ‘misleading’ ads for free tax prep software

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The FTC has asked a federal court to order Intuit to stop advertising that it is free to use.

The commission says that the ads are misleading people into believing they can file their taxes for free with TurboTax. According to the FTC, in 2020, approximately two-thirds of tax filers could not use the free product.

The FTC is seeking a preliminary injunction that would prevent Intuit from engaging in deceptive acts or practices in its marketing and advertising.

The FTC's complaint was not credible, and the company will challenge it.

Many Americans can file their taxes for free thanks to a partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance. In July of last year, it said it was leaving that program.

If this seems familiar to readers, they may be remembering the 888-565- series of reports by ProPublica, which found that H&R Block had misled people into paying to file their taxes. Both companies kept free versions of their software from showing up in search engine results, making them harder for customers to find online. The Free File program was changed by the IRS after it was discovered that the agency could not create an online filing system that was a competitor for the software companies.